Adjustable head rest



1957 w. J. WHITTINGHAM 2,804,127

ADJUSTABLE HEAD REST Filed May 6, 1954 fingham n m M N... 0 M n mw A m I .J m M n GW/ m F 5 .m F ll 2.! .4. 2 B W.

United States Patent ADJUSTABLE HEAD REST Wallace John Whittingham, Denver, Colo.

Application May 6, 1954, Serial No. 427,975

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-177) This invention relates to adjustable head rest units adapted for fixed attachment to and any expedient use association with devices for the support of the recumbent human body, such as automobile mechanics creepers, massage tables, and the like, and has as an object to provide a novel and improved such unit conveniently susceptible of selective elevational adjustment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and operative correlation of elements constituting an adjustable head rest unit attachment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved adjustable head rest unit particularly adapted for economical production from readily-available stock materials largely by means of punch-press operations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved adjustable head rest unit characterized by simple and positive latch means of ratchet type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved adjustable head rest unit arranged to automatically interlatch hingedly associated major elements of the unit at one limit of their range of relative travel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved adjusable head rest unit of wide practical utility, extensive adaptability, and exceptional operative simplicity.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and operative combination of elements as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is an isometric view of a typical embodiment of the invention as associated in position of use with a conventional creeper, a portion of the latter being broken away to conserve space.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, on a relatively enlarged scale, of the organization according to Figure 1, broken lines in the view indicating an alternative position of certain movable elements of the assembly.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, detail section taken substantially on the indicated line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, detail section, on a scale enlarged relative to that of Figure 2, taken substantially on the indicated line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the organization according to Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the organization according to Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary, detail, isometric View of a modification within the contemplation of the invention.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary, detail elevation of a further modification within the contemplation of the invention.

No elaboration should be requisite to establish the extensive use occasions for and the practical utility of an adjustable head rest unit susceptible of expedient attachment to diverse agencies for the support of a human body. Representative of such agencies, the creepers 23%45127 Patented Aug. 27, 1957 ice V able head rest unit readily mountable as an attachment and adjacent an end of the plate 12 to overlie the latter,

an arcuate stem 14 carried by the arm 13 in slidably intersecting relation with the plate 12, means for releasably latching said stem to the plate in and to determine various angular relations between the arm and plate, and a pillow or pad 15 carried by the free end of the arm 13 at the side of the latter remote from the plate 12.

The plate 12 is expediently a rectangular member cut from appropriately rigid material, such as strip metal, in size and proportions suited to its functions and relationships as hereinafter described. Inwardly from one of its ends, the plate 12 is out along lines parallel and inwardly adjacent the plate long sides to release integral strips 16 which are rolled longitudinally of and to stand above the plate as eyes of a hinge member wherewith the arm 13 cooperates as hereinbelow set forth, the area of the plate between the strips 16 being left in coplanar relation with the plate as a tang 17 wherethrough screws or bolts 18 may engage as fasteners to aid in attachment of the plate in its use position. Inwardly of the plate from the tang 17, apertures are provided for the accommodation of additional bolts or screws 18 functioning as fasteners to complement the mounting and secure attachment of the plate. The end portion of the plate 12 remote from the tang 17 is arranged to overhang and to project outwardly beyond the bed 10, or other member, upon which the plate is mounted, and inwardly adjacent the free end of said plate a rectangular aperture 19 intersects the thickness of the plate with the length of the aperture transversely of the plate and parallel to the free end thereof. Inwardly of the plate from the aperture 19, a second elongated aperture intersects the plate thickness centrally of the plate width and with the aperture length longitudinal of the plate, and at the inner end of said latter aperture a lip 20 is struck upwardly from the plate in the same direction as the elevation of the eyes formed from the strips 16 and in a manner to dispose the free end of said lip directed rearwardly of the plate toward the aperture 19 and to overhang the adjacent end of the associated aperture in ofiset, parallel relation with the plate. As should be obvious, the working of the plate 12 in the manner and to the form and arrangement shown and described is a relatively simple punch-press operation of facility and relatively low cost.

The arm 13 is preferably a rectangular member expediently of the same width as and a length greater than that of the plate 12 which is adapted to be cut from stock material of appropriate rigidity and) thickness, conveniently the same as the strip metal from which the plate is formed. At one of its ends, the arm 13 is notched on both of its long margins to leave like ears 21 oppositely outstanding laterally and at the end of the arm in position for engagement within the eyes formed from the strips 16, in which engagement the ears 21 function as a hinge or pintle wherethrough the arm 13 is hingedly associated with the plate 12 to overlie the portion of the latter remote from its tang 17. The hinge construction just described may be varied without departing from the principle of the invention, but the particular organization of hinge elements just set forth is peculiarly adapted for development and completion by simple punch-press operations. The end portion of the arm 13 remote from the ears 21 may be bent somewhat away from the plane of the arm major length and the pillow or pad 15, of any desired appropriate form or construction, is secured to said free end of the arm by any expedient means to securely interassociate the particular pad and arm with the former transversely of the latter.

The stem 14 may be a cylindrical member, as represented in Figures 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, or it may be a fiat strip member rectangular in cross section, as shown by Figures 7 and 8, but in either form said stem is attached at one end to and centrally of the underside of the arm 13 in position to slidably engage through the aperture longitudinally of the plate 12 and to clear the free end of the lip 20 when the arm 13 is closed toward and against the plate, and the stem 14, in either of its structural embodiments, is curved longitudinally to a circular are concentric with the hinge axis common to the arm 13 and plate 12, so that the member 14 is adapted to slide freely in and through the aperture formed for its accommodation in the plate 12 as the arm 13 is swung about its hinge connection with the plate and through various positions of angular divergence relative thereto. As shown in certain of the views of the drawing, the stem 14 may be securely afiixed at one end to the arm 13, as by welding, riveting, or the like, or, alternatively, and as shown by Figure 8, the stem 14 may engage with the arm 13 through a hinge connection 22 of any desired particularity.

The concave margin of the stem 14 is worked, regardless of the particular stem construction, to the form of ratchet teeth 23 which are preferably progressively spaced apart from the arm 13 and toward the free end of the stem to provide uniform increments of pad elevation relative to the plate 12, and said teeth are arranged with surfaces radial of the arm and plate hinge axis and with complementary inclined surfaces sloping from the base of the radial surfaces in a direction away from the arm 13, whereby to condition said teeth for racheting use as the arm 13 is swung away from the plate 12 and for latching action as the arm is approached toward the plate. The latch means coacting with the ratchet teeth 23 is a detent 24 constituted from a strip of metal having a width freely engageable through and to loosely fill the length of the aperture 19, and an opening 25 for the free accommodation of the stem 14 intersects the detent 24 inwardly adjacent one of its ends, said opening 25 being preferably larger, longitudinally of the detent, than the dimension of the stem 14 therethrough engageable. The opening 25 is so related with the adjacent end of the detent 24 as to engage the free end margin of the detent under the lip when the apertured portion of the detent is slidably engaged against the upper surface of the plate 12 with the detent opening registered with the longitudinal opening in said plate to permit free shift of the stem 14 through the so-registered openings, and at the side of the opening 25 remote from the lip 20 the detent 24 is bent transversely through an angle slightly less than ninety degrees to form an intermediate web portion loosely accommodated in and through the aperture 19, while at the side of said web portion below the plate 12 and in a considerable spacing from the plate the detent is again and oppositely bent to form a' handle portion 26 diverging outwardly and downwardly away from the plate 12 and extending in length outwardly beyond the free end thereof. Obviously, the detent 24 is adapted for economical production from stock strip material by simple punchpress operations.

With the latch element constructed as shown and described and the arm 13 hinged to the plate 12 with the stem 14 accommodated through the longitudinal aperture of the plate, assembly and operation of the latch is simple and reasonably obvious. When the free end of the arm 13 is swung away from the plate 12 to retract the free end of the stem 14 outwardly and away from the plate 12, the end portion of the detent 24 characterized by the opening 25 is inserted from below through the aperture 19 of the plate 12 until the intermediate web of the detent is received in said aperture and the opening 25 is registered with the longitudinal aperture in the plate, whereafter the arm 13 is swung toward the plate 12 to engage the free end of the stem 14 through the opening 25 and the longitudinal plate aperture, thereby retaining the detent 24 against separation from its association with the plate 12. Mounted as shown and described, the handle portion 26 of the detent may be moved by a force exerted thereon to shift the detent along the plate 12 and away from the lip 20, thus to engage the edge of the opening 25 adjacent said lip in and with the ratchet teeth 23 as the radial margins of said teeth clear the upper sur' face of the plate 12; such tendency of the detent accomplishing a latching action which automatically holds the arm 13 in any elevated relation with the plate 12 determined by the particular tooth 23 wherewith the detent is engaged. As the free end of the arm 13 is progressively elevated, the sloped surfaces of the ratchet teeth shift the detent toward the lip 20 for engagement of the detent end margin under said lip suificiently to offset tilting of the detent away from the plate, thus maintaining a relation between the plate and detent effective for latching coaction with the successive ratchet teeth. Release of the detent to permit swing of the arm 13 toward the plate 12 is readily accomplished by the application of moderate lifting pressure to the free end of the detent handle portion 26, such pressure operating through engagement of the detent intermediate web with a margin of the aperture 19 to shift the detent toward the lip 20 and to engagement of its end margin thereunder in such consequent registration of the opening 25 with the plate longitudinal aperture as fully frees the stem 14 for travel in either direction through the so-registered openings.

At the end of the stem 14 attached to the arm 13 and interrupting the concave margin of said stem, a rectangular notch 27 is provided in position for engagement by the detent 24 when the arm 13 is at the limit of its approach toward and in substantial parallelism with the plate 12; engagement of the detent in and with the notch 27 serving to interlatch the elements 12 and 13. This feature is a convenience useful in moving the equipment with which the head rest is associated from one place to another, since the pad 15 offers a rather convenient handle for the shifting and lifting of the entire organization.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claim, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention- An adjustable head rest comprising an attaching plate formed with holes for the accommodation of fasteners, integral hinge eyes aligned transversely of said plate adjacent one end thereof, an arm, integral ears outstanding laterally and oppositely at one end of said arm and engaged within said eyes, whereby to hingedly associate said arm in alignment with and to overlie the plate, a longitudinally arcuate stem pivotally carried by said arm in slidably intersecting relation with the plate, ratchet teeth on the said stem, a locking member associated with the plate in coacting relation with said teeth, and a pad secured to the free end of said arm, said ratchet teeth progressively increasing in individual length longitudinally of the stem from the arm to the stem end remote from the arm, whereby to determine increments of elevation at 5 the free end of the arm with respect to the plate consequent upon coaction of the individual teeth with the locking member, said plate including a tang extending therefrom adjacent said hinge eyes and having therein one of the holes for the accommodation of fasteners, said plate being formed with a central aperture elongated longitudinally thereof for the accommodation of the stem, a lip upstanding at the end of said aperture adjacent the hinge common to the arm and plate with its free end directed toward the stem in upwardly-offset, spacedlyparallel relation with the plate, a second elongated aperture transversely intersecting said plate adjacent the end of the plate remote from said lip, and said locking member being constituted as a deformed strip having an intermediate web portion loosely accommodated in said transverse aperture, an integral handle portion inclining downwardly and outwardly from the lower margin of said web portion, and a latch portion integral with the web portion upper margin and extending thence in slidable, overlying relation with the plate across the plate area intersected by the stem and having anend engageable at times beneath 6 said lip, said latch portion being apertured for slidable accommodation of the stem when end-engaged with the lip and for coaction with the ratchet teeth when shifted out of engagement with the lip, said arcuate stem having a curvature concentric with the hinge axis common to said ears and eyes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 126,599 Waterhouse May 7, 1872 235,705 Schwaab Dec. 21, 1880' 325,551 Lukens Sept. 1, 1885 610,089 Schrenkeisen Aug. 30, 1898 668,381 Luppino Feb.- 19, 1901 966,637 Akin Aug. 9, 1910 1,629,306 Reeder May 17, 1927 2,118,689 Whedon May 24, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 164,696 Germany Oct. 31, 1905 775,316 France Oct. 8, 1934 

